The present invention relates to plumbing fixtures; more particularly, to a urinal attachment that may be coupled or retrofitted to a toilet.
The usage of commodes and urinals are known in the art. Generally, it has been common practice to provide a water tank incorporating a flushing device in association with a commode to help dispose of contents within a toilet bowl and down a drainpipe. The toilet bowl typically includes a seat and a lid attached thereon and is supported by a base. A base plate is normally mounted onto a floor in order to securingly support the base of the toilet. In contrast, a standard urinal includes a urinal bowl and a flushing apparatus attached to the bowl. A urinal-rinsing line is positioned within the bowl to release water through rinsing apertures. Here, when the flushing apparatus is activated, water cascades downward into the bowl and down a drain line in order to refresh the bowl for subsequent usage. However, these standard commodes and urinals, as two separate entities, have necessitated substantial special requirements and have promoted excess water utilization during the flushing processes.
With increasing need for water conservation, many devices have been introduced in order to provide a system which reduces the number of times a toilet is flushed. Such devices have been presented in the form of urinal attachments for conventional toilets. Examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,500,480; 3,822,419; 4,137,579; 4,180,875; 4,282,611; 4,549,321 and 4,750,219. However, most of the urinal attachments either drain directly into the toilet bowl or require a modified toilet bowl since the urinal attachments cannot be readily attached to an existing toilet bowl unit.
Several attempts have been made to redesign such combination urinal and toilet units in order to provide direct drainage from a urinal into the drain hole of a commode. An example of these devices is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,947 issued to Markles. The ""947 patent describes a urinal device having a urinal bowl that is supported adjacent to a toilet. The bowl includes an outlet drain to which an outlet drain line is connected in order to directly drain into the drain line rather than into the toilet bowl. Preferably, the urinal bowl includes a bowl-rinsing line affixed to the conventional bowl flushing and filling assembly so that whenever the toilet is flushed, the urinal bowl is rinsed.
Other attempts have focused on a urinal that is capable of being retrofitted to an existing commode. An example of such a retrofit unit is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,230 issued to Corbin. The ""230 patent discloses an auxiliary urinal retrofittable to an existing commode where the urinal is connected to a base plate. Here, the base plate is placed between the base of the toilet and the floor to allow the urinal to drain liquid into a pipe used by the commode.
In view of the above described deficiencies associated with the use of conventionally designed toilet and urinal devices, the present invention has been developed to alleviate these drawbacks and provide further benefits to a vehicle. These enhancements and benefits are described in greater detail herein below with respect to several alternative embodiments of the present invention.
Disclosed herein is a toilet assembly in combination with a urinal incorporating a commode having a bowl being supported by a base and being in communication with a water tank including a flushing mechanism attached thereon. The base has a peripheral wall housing a passageway located therein. A nipple extends through the wall of the base and connects the urinal to the commode utilizing a valve connection. A guard shield is interiorly attached to the wall of the base and is in communication with the nipple in order to allow fluids to flow through the passageway. The present invention also provides for a guard shield to protect the nipple from being exposed to excretions that are disposed from the commode. Further, a holding apparatus may be mounted onto the commode and/or the urinal in order to protect various items from being damaged.
An advantage of the present invention is to increase water conservation by providing a toilet assembly in combination with a urinal which helps reduce the number of times the toilet is flushed. Specifically, when the urinal is utilized and is subsequently flushed, the disposed fluid will bypass the toilet bowl and enter into the passageway of the base of the toilet and down the drain line.
Another benefit of the present invention is to provide a urinal that is capable of being attached to an existing toilet. Once the urinal is coupled to the toilet, the urinal may be drained directly into the passageway.
The beneficial effects described above apply generally to the exemplary methods disclosed herein of the method for controlling a power source in a transporting vehicle utilizing sensed output from a driver input device. The specific methods through which these benefits are delivered will be described in detail herein below.